Amazing Illustrator Book for all levels of users
This book is great for every kind of Illustrator user. If you are new to Illustrator it gives you straight out instruction on how to accomplish several important tasks in an easy way. If you are an Illustrator expert it's perfect for looking up a feature you don't use often to get a refresh on or more insight to the feature then you had before. This book is also great for anyone upgrading from previous versions, it has a nice overview of all the new tools and features. Also this book doesn't add the fluff and gets straight down to the point which other books can take 4 times as many pages to accomplish the same points. This book is highly recommended.
Just The Basics, but well done
This is an excellent reference for someone that simply needs to quickly know how to do something in Illustrator CS3 (should also be useful for CS4) without having to wade through too many pages to do it. The truth is, what is contained in this book covers 95% of what you need to know, and it has become the first book I grab when I need to refresh my memory about a technique. I would think a student would want to learn what is covered in here first, as it serves a good framework when they go back and learn in more depth later about various techniques, so I think it would be great in a classroom setting. Plus, it is certainly priced right for a student.
Good book for people who need instructions in a hurry
I learned Illustrator on a need-to-know basis. Like many busy professionals, I learned only as much as I needed to know when I needed to know it. In the past I tried using the Classroom in a Book to increase my Illustrator skills, and while I generally like that approach - the book comes with a CD of sample files that allow the user to complete an interesting, attractive and complex project while working through each chapter - I've never managed to find the time to work through a whole chapter in one sitting. I need instructions in bite-size pieces, and that's what Adobe Illustrator CS3 How-Tos: 100 Essential Techniques provides. Each technique is explained in just a few pages, so it's not comprehensive enough to turn the reader into an expert but it provides enough guidance to make the reader proficient in the use of that technique in just a few minutes.
Going through the book from beginning to end would give the reader a broad competency with Illustrator, as the 100 techniques cover the software fairly comprehensively. It is probably more effective, however, as a reference book. The book is great for beginners as it starts with the basics: creating new documents, saving and printing, finding tools, and drawing lines. Topics are arranged in a logical order, so that a technique never requires skills that weren't covered on previous pages in the book, but there is no progression from topic to topic. Techniques are arranged by topic into eleven chapters. The reader is not instructed to create a project and then build on it as he or she progresses from technique to technique or chapter to chapter. Each technique stands alone, and it is up to the reader to create a new AI file and try out the technique in his or her own unique way. At the end of the book I had screens full of interesting doodles and shapes, and a head full of new information, but no satisfyingly professional-looking image - as with the Classroom in a Book approach - that I could show off proudly and say "I made that."
The book includes many screen shots, but none of them are in color. This makes it less visually interesting than other books, but it does not interfere with instruction - everything is illustrated clearly. Another thing you won't find here is creative ideas for using Illustrator. This is a straightforward technical manual. It explains the basics, step by step, and it is up to the reader to provide the creativity and inspiration.
The most straight forward way of delivering all you need to know
This is an excellent series of books. I started out with Photoshop and went on to study Illustrator and Dreamweaver. Is less then a quarter of the size of all the other instructional books out ther but packs ten times of easy to read and understand knowledge. I highly recommend it!
it's ok
it's a good book, but it's all in black and white, not like other design books that have magazine paper and color photos explaining the points. there's a lot of text, but not many pictures or diagrams explaining, which in my case helps.
(14 reviews)
